Foodie & The Beast from Home: June 21, 2020

FOODIE & THE BEAST
Foodie & the Beast is on air, recorded from Nycci and David's bedroom (not as sexy as it sounds), safely talking to people who are making a difference in the food space.  Since we’re not in studio, we don’t have someone shaking up cocktails for us (and our guests) during the show. We now have a cocktail created for each show by a RAMMY Cocktail Program of the Year nominee.  This week, Alonzo Freeman from The Royal virtually made us an Aji cocktail —  a Colombian riff on the classic daiquiri, incorporating Royal’s house aji sauce made with cilantro, scallions, tomato, peppers and vinegar, with white rum, fresh lime and cane sugar — tune in to make your own. While sipping on this week’s cocktail, listen to David and Nycci talk to Chef Michael Rafidi, whose Albi restaurant opened near the Navy Yard just two weeks prior to the lockdown, but managed to  pivot quickly to carryout and delivery and whose  morning and daytime café, Yellow, opened adjacent to the Albi dining room during the pandemic shutdown. This is a real case of Coronovirus survival you’ll want to hear. We chatted with Chef Johanna Hellrigl from the West End’s new Mercy Me. She loves to bake, especially sourdough as an homage to her chef dad, and has been “seeding” friends’ kitchens with giveaways of sourdough starters. Pastry chef & owner of Petite Soeur, Ashleigh Pearson, seemed destined to succeed when she won a $10,000 Les Dames de Escoffier scholarship and headed off to Paris for classes at Le Cordon Blue (without speaking a word of French, mind you!). She’s back, running her operation out of Robert Weidmaier’s Marcels and creating “Wow!” pastries and desserts. Lastly,  an old and good friend of the show, 3 Stars Brewing’s Dave Coleman, joined us to discuss his brewery’s worldwide participation in “Black is Beautiful”, a beer project supporting Black Lives Matter, and 3 Stars’ new CSB – Community Supported Beer” – promotion. So much deliciousness for your ears. Listen to the entire episode here.